Friday, September 27, 2013

Because farmers have traditionally remodeled or combined
barns over the years to suit their needs and tastes, it is often a challenge to
recognize these basic types today.There
are also other types of historic barns and specialty outbuildings found on many
Vermont farms.Consider this guide a
starting point.

English Barns
(before the 1770s to 1900s)

Vermont's early farmers built their barns based on a
traditional barn design that the original colonists brought with them from
England. The basic design remained popular for smaller barns throughout the
nineteenth century.Measuring about
thirty feet by forty feet with a pair of large, hinged wagon doors on the long
side and unpainted vertical boards on the walls, the English barn usually stood
on a level site without a basement.Inside these barns were divided into a center drive and threshing floor
(onto which the pair of doors open) with hay and grain storage on one side and
animal stables on the other.

Yankee Barn
(1820s to 1870s)

By the mid-1800s, many farmers adopted a new design for
their barns which allowed them to house up to ten cows and shifted the main
entrance to the gable end.Inside the
center drive floor followed the ridge of the roof with cow stables in a row on
one side and hay storage on the other.Usually built into a hillside so that manure could be pushed into and
stored in a basement below, these barns could be expanded by adding additional
bays to the rear.To reduce winter
drafts, farmers rejected traditional vertical board siding in favor of tighter
board-and-batten, clapboard or shingle sheathings.They soon found that rooftop ventilators were
needed for fresh air and windows for light.

Sheep Barn
(1820s to 1870s)

Prior to the era of dairying, sheep were the most widespread
livestock raised on Vermont farms. Older barns were either adapted to shelter
sheep or new barns were built.These
barns typically consist of two levels and may be built into a bank. Sheep were
housed on ground floor which opened to a fenced pasture with a southern
exposure.

Late Bank
Barns (1870s to 1900s)

Those farmers specializing in dairying soon needed space for
more than ten cows, and many built huge multi-storied bank barns to house
cattle and other livestock and to store winter forage and grain for them.At the uphill gable end, a covered bridge or
"high-drive" often provided access for wagons to the upper
hayloft.Cow stables with rows of wooden
stanchions are in the story below, with manure stored in the basement.Most late bank barns are sheathed with
clapboards andhave elaborate wooden
ventilator cupolas, often topped by decorative weathervanes.

Horse
/Carriage Barns (1850s to 1910s)

In addition to the main barn, many farms also utilized a
number of supporting barns and outbuildings. The horse or carriage barn is one
such example. Though earlier examples exist horse or carriage barns became
increasingly popular during 1860’s and 1870’s as horses replaced oxen on farms.Many of these barns contain a granary for
storing feed and cupola to increase ventilation.Other elements common to the horse or
carriage barn is the presence of small windows indicating stalls, gable
entrance with hay door in upper floor, and greater level of architectural
embellishment as most of these barns were built by more affluent farmers.

Ground Stable
Barns (1910s to 1950s)

After 1910 government health regulations for the production
and handling of fluid milk required new barn designs.Agricultural college experiment stations
promoted the gambrel-roofed, ground stable barn design, which was widely
adopted throughout the country.These
barns housed cows on a washable concrete floor in steel pipe stanchions at
ground level.The gambrel roof made an
ample hayloft and could be erected with pre-fabricated trusses. Ducts from
steel ventilators atop the roof provided fresh air for the cows, and long rows
of small windows gave light to the stable area.A small, milk house was usually attached to the building.

Located across from Pat Powers
home. Barn has attached hay barn and milkhouse. Built by brothers Russell and
Willard Powers as the main barn for a milking operation. Has been used on and
off since construction. [Note from Beth: Construction probably coincided with
the new requirement of concrete floors for dairy barns, circa 1962.]

Most recently used as rental
storage space. Was built in the early 1950s as the new dairy barn, in the
barnyard of the original high-drive barn and stable ell. Jasper Rudd was the
owner and partnered with his son Frederick to run a dairy operation of about 60
head, of which 34 were milkers. Frederick owned the 265-acre farm after Jasper,
until 1973. The next owners, Aubrey and Simone Weaver, used the barn as storage
space and did not dairy farm. Some acreage has been sold as farmland and
residential. After the Weavers, the house burned down in April 2009.

Dave Morrison: An old map in the
Davies Memorial Library says this farm was settled in 1800 by E. Freeman. Later
in the 1800s it was known as the Charles Ross place. Raymond Morrison bought
the farm in 1921 or 1922. At that time, there was an "Early Bank
Barn" close to the road, with the hay floor at road level. Cattle level
was below and manure level below that. Around 1950, a section of the cattle
floor gave way, and the milkers died, hung in their stantions.The "new" stable (present now) was
built at this time with the "old" barn used for hay storage and
calves. The new barn has tie-ups for 20+ milkers, 10 heifers, a bull pen, and
stalls for 3 work horses. Ray Morrison farmed there with horses until the mid
1960s (he did have an old John Deere tractor toward the end). The subsequent
owners, John and Barbara Hird, had the "old" barn taken down.
Portions of the farm are still used for hay and corn by the Bullock family.

Town history, p. 19:
Capt. Elijah Freeman was one of the first pioneers of Waterford, having come in
1796. His sons were Aaron, Elijah, Arad, and Farwell. He bought three lots of
land and gave one to each of his boys, except Farwell. Town history, p. 74:
Charles Ross was a survivor of Andersonville Prison during the Civil War. Town
history p. 44: The first school in this district was taught in John Grow's
dwelling house on the farm where Raymond Morrison now lives. The first school
house was built of logs and near Mr. Grow's house.

Old County Road. Dairy barn built
in 1948 by Willard Powers and used in dairying through the 1950s. Now used for
goats. No public access. Concrete foundation, stud construction, gable roof of
metal with sheet metal. 30 by 50. Entrance on eaves side.

Stone foundation is on side away
from road, only. Current owner removed the original interior carriage bays.

Phone interview by Helen Chantal
Pike on 4/23/2013 with 82-year-old current owner Milton (Milt) Lund: structure
"may have been built by Abbott Lawrence of Lawrence Road. No relation to
Charlie Lawrence.

Milt calls it a "wagon
shed" because the side away from the road used to be open in order to
garage wagons and other horse-drawn farm equipment. He says he's put doors on
to close up that side. Only the road side has the stone foundation.""

Ancestry.com records
further show Abbott's father as Victor, born 1849; Victor's parents were
Orville Lawrence (1823-1907) and Olive G. Bingham (1829-1916). Orville is of
some note: "Orville Lawrence by Steele's Store 1890s. Orville was a
"town character" who had made a fortune on Wall Street in the late
1860s as the partner of Russell Sage, but lost it all in the Panic of 1873. He
came back to Waterford to farm. Orville was quick-witted and outspoken, and
many entertaining sorties have been told about him. - St. Johnsbury, Vermont By
Claire Dunne Johnson"

Mad Brook Road; no public access.
Stone foundation, post and beam frame, barn board siding. Gable roof of wood
with sheet metal. Entrance in gable front. Looks like one older barn with a
newer portion to make it longer. Property now held by a trust.

A&T Powers
reports this: Farm was willed to the current owner (a trust) by Randy Bedard,
who had no family. Located near dirt road in unused fields.

Lee Road, off Route 18, near Stiles Pond. The
Lee Farm includes a set of Waterford, Vermont, farm structures already
documented in a 1982 National Register of Historic Places nomination written by
Deborah Noble. The nomination can be found here: http://www.crjc.org/heritage/V19-3.htm

From the nomination:

The
large farm complex alludes in its relative grandeur to the early days of what
was then known as Waterford Hollow, when that village was formerly of
"considerable importance, having a church, store, hotel, oil-mills and saw
mill" and when the proximity of Stiles Pond "rendered the locality a
pleasant summer retreat."(8) The Stiles family, who settled nearby, were
developers of the various mills at the outlet of the pond. After business
passed to nearby East St. Johnsbury and Concord, the village declined until now
all that is left is the nearby cemetery and several farms bypassed by the newly
constructed Interstate 93.

Elinor Levy, current owner:
Lambert Packard was the architect. "Silo" Quimby was the builder. The
barn was commissioned by the Hastings family.

The following is from the National Register nomination:The barn is a three-level, 80 foot diameter,
perfectly round wood frame structure with an 18 foot diameter center silo. The
upper and lower levels are column free, which provides uninterrupted spaces.
(for full dimensions of the barn, see the accompanying drawings.)

Exterior:

The exterior of the barn is wood
shingled. At the upper level there are 14 fixed three over three windows
located in the center of the 16 roof planes. The middle level has 12
double-hung six over six windows centered on the roof planes. There are nine
fixed three over three windows at ground level. The windows have a flush
exterior wood casing. Vent holes are located to the left of every other window
on the upper level. Steel rings are also placed to the left of every other
window on this level for the purpose of attaching scaffolding. There is a
projected wood eaves leading to a roof covered with asphalt shingles. The
radiating roof eaves have a flat wood board fascia below. At the peak of the
roof is an octagonal cupola with rectangular wood louvers. Above is a
weathervane comprised of a tapered base with a ball, rod and pivoting vane in
the form of an ornate arrow.

Access to the upper level at the
southeast elevation is through a gable framed entrance with a sloped floor
which is preceded by an earth ramp with stone retaining walls. A fixed three
over three window is centered above the double entrance doors.

At the northeast elevation of the
barn there is an enclosed cattle ramp which extends from the first to the
second level. It has a shed roof covered with wood shingles. The wood frame
walls are sheathed with horizontal planking, and it is wood shingled in
conformity with the remainder of the barn. Where it meets the second level, the
ramp becomes a platform, with two fixed three over three windows centered on
the platform. A storage area is located beneath the ramp with a passage door on
the ground floor of the northeast side. An additional outside entry to the
middle level is through a shed roof passageway on the southeast elevation.

The entrance to the ground floor
is through a pair of wood plank doors on the east and west elevations. At the
northeast elevation there is also a single door pedestrian entrance to the
storage area below the second level front entrance to the barn.

Interior:

At the center of the dirt floor
ground level there is a wood framed silo with a stone base. The silo is double
planked with half inch thick horizontal boards on each side of the 2x4 wood
studs.

The ground level is most striking
for the absence of center posts supporting the second level. Instead, there are
16 radiating inverted king trusses. They are comprised of a wood top cord with
a steel rod bottom member on each side. The rods have threaded ends and extend
back to the end of the top cord member where it is held with a loop and pin. A
steel plate with a wood block supports a center wood ring beam.

There is a wood column in the
exterior wall below each truss. The remainder of the exterior wall consists of
exposed wood studs at two feet on center. The second floor framing bays are
composed of two radiating beams at the inner ring, creating three equal spaces
between the trusses. The outer ring has three radiating beams, creating four
equal spaces between the trusses.

The ground level has an interior
access door to a storage room which is located below the sloped wagon entrance
to the upper level. The room has a door and fixed three over three window to
the exterior, and a wood stair to the creamery above it.

The middle level is used for
cattle. The floor has nine continuous five foot wide passageways at the
perimeter. There are 50 cow stalls, three horse stalls, a pen and an open area
surrounding the center silo. An access door is located at the northwest side.

Ground floor in use as hayloft;
second and third floors are open and rented out for events like weddings.
Horses are in new building (~7 years old) near road.

Designer Frank C. Bullock was
involved in building a gambrel-style barn fo the Blodgett farm that burned down
in the early 21st century (from Town Report). This barn had been located about
1.5 to 2 miles from the current Dream Catcher barn. Also known as the Nutter
farm.

Featured in 1964
Waterford Town Report. Particularly significant because etehre is documentary
evidence for the barn's design and construction by local barnwright Fred C.
Bullock, as well as for the process of consturction (choice of local mill used
for lumber; photos of barn raising).

This is the red barn by the yellow
farmhouse, close to the Interstate 93 overpass. Owned in 19th century by Elisha
(b. 1852; his great-grandfather was William Brown, an 1800 settler of Waterford)
and wife Elisa Kinne Brown. Owned in 20th century by Cushing family; Mr.
Cushing (grandfather of current resident Kathy Aucoin) sold his Lofty Maple
Farm on the Shadow Lake Road and bought this.

Moved in 1945 as original location
in Upper Waterford was flooded by creation of Moore Dam on Connecticut River.
Stable and milkhouse were added in new location (1945-1950?).

A&T Powers interview of
Patricia Powers: Barn was built in Upper Waterford (now under Moore Dam
Reservoir) at an unknown date. Wallace family sold property to New England
Power around 1945, dismantled and reassembled barn at its current location, and
added the milkhouse and stable after the move.

Barn used for household storage
2013. Sugarhouse built circa 1960 by Ken Barrett who owned farm after Powers. Forest
encroaching.

Research by Helen Chantal Pike and
Dave Morrison, interviewing residents: Lyman Church was original farmer here;
he married daughter of Claude Davison up the road. The couple's only child,
daughter Stella, married Ernest Powers (third cousin of Upper Waterford
Powers). Stella became Town Clerk. Next owner was Ken Barrett, who built the
sugarhouse located in brush behind barn. Next owner William Piper shored up
posts with concrete blocks; never farmed property but may have kept horses.

Town history
indicates farm was first cleared and settled by Zenas Goss, then known as the
Claudius Davison farm.

Dave Morrison: At some time in the
1800s, this was known as the Hale Farm. During the middle part of the 1900s it was
the Joseph Bonnett Sr. farm.

Town history, p. 87: THE HALE
FAMILY. Edward E., Joseph, and Abbie were descendants of John Hale. Edward and
Abbie lived and died on the Hale farm, which has been in the family for over a
century. Edward was known as a man of sterling character, upright and square in
all dealings with mankind. He and his sister both were known as honest,
consistent farm people, plodding along in a quiet, unostentatious manner. They
were regular attendants and good workers in the church. They never married.
Joseph married and has one daughter [Grace, 1883-1946] who is the only
survivor. She married Samuel Bonnett [1880-1956] of St. Johnsbury and lives
there. They have a son Joseph [BK note: This would be Joseph Bonnett Sr.,
1907-1989], who lives on the Abial Richardson farm." [material in square
brackets added from Ancestry.com research]

Foundation is concrete piers.
Sugarhouse on this property was moved from Henry Davison farm up the road
behind current home of Clayt Bullock.

Noted by Dave Morrison and Helen
Chantal Pike: Earliest known owner was Calvin Brown, brother to Claude or
Claudius. Darham cows. Brown sold to "Luce" Freeman who sold to Fred
C. Bullock, barn designer. Fred's grandson Fred Bullock filled in around the
barn on the river side so customers could drive their vehicles in for service.
His cousin Jerry (Gerald) kept farm equipment in the other half of the barn.

Town history, p. 83: Calvin Brown,
son of Daniel, was born in Waterford in 1810. He married Susan Miles, daughter
of Dr. Abner Miles. ... He reared seven children. [Their daughter] Diantha
married Lorenzo Freeman and lived on the home place.

English barn, access by
request to owner. Brick foundation, post and beam frame, barn board siding,
gable roof of wood with corrugated metal, entry on eaves side, 80 by 30. Built in presumably 1880s; remodeled in
about 1896; concrete foundation added in 1940s. Original
barn is now surrounded by abutting barn built in 1964 by George Bullock.
Original barn fronts Lower Waterford Road and has two sections, of which the
older section is the western half. Davison sugarhouse was moved up the road to
the Calvin Brown farm.

Based on oral history collected by
Helen Chantal Pike and Dave Morrison: The barn may date to 1850 or earlier. The
property was owned by Henry Davison who had four daughters; one married barn
designer Fred C. Bullock. This couple "lost" the farm. Next owner was
G. M. Sweatt. Next owner was Frank Bullock, son of Fred C., the barn designer.
His son George succeeded him. Clayton Bullock, George's son, runs the farm
today, maybe with his cousin. Henry also had brother Claude, whose farm was
where Clayt Bullock bags silage.

Town history, pp. 22-23: Rev.
Silas Davison moved into Waterford in 1796, and commenced on the Harvey
Holbrook Farm. [Sold it to town clerk Grows, while S.D. held mortgage back on
it; farm failed, Davison lost all, then bought back 100 acres and son Henry C.
worked it; Henry C. had sons Claudius and Henry, as mentioned in oral history.]

Ground stable barn with chicken coop, garage, milkhouse,
sugarhouse, wagon shed, woodshed. No public access. Was in use for dairying.
Built 1886 and modified in the 1950s. Concrete foundation with stud
construction frame, covered with barn boards. Gable roof of wood covered with
sheet metal. High drive, cupola. Entrance in eaves side.

The Pike Homestead, settled in 1791 on road 46 at the corner
of road 47 (now Old Couty Road and Shadow Lake Road), was owned by Frank W.
Brown and Jennie (Miller) Brown, his wife, in 1877. In 1919 they sold to Glenn
Gilbert Powers and Eva (Page) Powers (parents of Geneva Powers Wright, author
of this history). The new barn built in 1886 replaced the old one, which Mr.
Brown tore down. It had a full basement used for the manure pit, a stable for
cattle, one for horses, a center feed floor, and ample hayloft/bays for hay,
and up the high drive wagons were housed between the hay storage. Mr. Powers
raised sheep, pigs, and chickens and made maple syrup. After electricity
arrived about 1942, a milkhouse was built. Prior to that, a battery-powered
generator had been used for electric lights, replacing kerosene lanterns.Mrs. Wright remembers a De Laval cream
separator used during the butter-making years; she used to wrap butter in half-pound
or one-pound packages. Seven children in
the Powers family were raised here, some born at home. The farm ownership
passed to son Leland Powers and then his son Keith Powers.

More history may be found in County Gazetteer and Directory—Caledonia and Essex 1761–1887 by
Hamilton Child, and Successful Vermonters
by William N. Jaffrey (Barre, VT, 1904).

Early Bank Barn built around 1876 with silo added 1917 and
stable 1950s. Stone foundation, post and beam frame, barn board siding, gable
roof of wood with wood shingle and then sheet metal, accessible by request to
owner, in farm use now. Gable front entrance. About 120 by 60 plus 20 for
stable.

In continuous use since 1876; barn is actually older than
house. Barn includes both hand-hewn and sawn beams and round log beams. Large
barn for the area. Original 400-acre lot was split up in the 1970s when Pliny
Page had to sell out. Dr. Thomas (current owner’s father) used cables to pull
the back of the barn together. Currently 135 acres in use for beef cows,
chickens, goats, haying. Owners: late 1800s-early 1900s Steven Hastings; until
late 1930s Frank Hastings; late 1930s to World War II Leo Donna; WW II to 1950s
Gillander; 1950s-1970s Pliny Page; 1975 to now, Dr. Thomas and then current
owners. Silo built in 1917, “Natco Imperishable Silo” from the National
Fireproofing Co., Pittsburgh, PA. Silo developed problems after blasting for
Interstate 91 occurred over the hill behind barn. Milkhouse now incorporated
into the stable built to comply with 1950s milking laws.

Teachers at the neighboring Green
School (named for the Green family, farm owners) usually boarded at the
farmhouse. In the farm's earliest years, several of the seven Green sons
married teachers as a result. Teacher spouses also abound in the Remick family
(later owners), and today the farm owner is a retired teaching librarian
(Waterford School). The Remick family continues to visit, sharing photographs
from their years of farming there.

Significance comes from (1) the
unusual double-barn construction, (2) the early date compared to other town
barns still standing, (3) construction presumed by the son of early-settling
family, (4) overall large footprint of barns plus fenced yard, (5) first
milking parlor in town, (6) evidence of multiple types of farm use since 1857.
This big double barn at the corner of Remick Road and Green School Road was
probably built by Lorenzo Green around 1857. Lorenzo, born about 1823, was the
sone of Eli Green (1783-1860) and Lucinda (Graves) Green (1792-1879). He
married Elizabeth J. Senter in 1853. His double barn consists of two
gable-roofed barns that meet at a right angle. Records show that in 1887 the
farm included 290 acres, 42,000 maple trees, 12 cows, and 18 head of other
stock. By the turn of the century, the barns became part of Rufus Walter
Remick's farm, just down the road from his father Walter Bowman Remick (born 1820
in Scotland, arrived in US before 1850, died 1899 in Waterford). Rufus Remick
operated a dairy farm with a specialty in butter, sold locally. In the mid
1950s, under pressure of changing farm standards, particularly the requirement
for a bulk milk cooling tank system, the farm ceased active dairying. However,
horses and beef cows occupied the barn after that, through subsequent owner
families Peterson and Wark; the current owner, M. Florio, bought the property
with her family in 1985 and raised beef cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs in the
barns. In addition to the two barns and the fenced barnyard, other agricultural
structures on the property include a two-story shed where meat used to be
stored in winter; a small icehouse; and the remains of a sugarhouse; plus the
farmhouse. Gravity-fed spring water and electricity still serve the barns.

English barn, restricted access, post and beam frame with
barn board siding, gable roof of wood covered with corrugated metal, entrance at
front, stall windows; diamond-shape window on top
floor. Long windows lengthwise on second floor on front (west side) and south
side. No glass in windows now, but openings are still there.

Deeds go back to 1850. Barn housed
chickens on second floor and horses on first floor. Horses were work horses
named Molly and Chub. Chew marks from horses still on wood. Current owner Donna
Rae Heath has a copy of 1948 Conservation/Business Plan prepared by USDA Soil
Conservation Service. Foundation sills replaced in 2009. Barn boards on sides
are thinning. Nails are Type A and Type B per Field Guide to New England Barns.

May be Waterford's oldest standing
barn. Located on riverside field, wet ground. Most recently used for hay
storage. No longer in use. At rear of Pateneaude (Locust Grove) Farm of East
St. Johnsbury, but this structure is actually in Waterford.

Sign out front says “The Hovey Place 1827” but this barn is
probably late 1800s. House may have been built around 1820 by Asa and William Hovey. There
was also a granary when the property was surveyed in 1980 by historian Allen D.
Hodgdon.